Volunteer at St. Margaret Mary Parish in Lomita Charged with Lewd Conduct with Children

By Larry Altman
Daily Breeze
January 23, 2015

http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20150123/volunteer-at-st-margaret-mary-parish-in-lomita-charged-with-lewd-conduct-with-children

A Harbor City man who taught religious school at a Lomita church was charged Friday with posing online as a 15-year-old girl and enticing a teenage boy to perform sex acts on video chat, prosecutors said.

Steven Joseph Mesplou, 30, also instructed the teen’s 8-year-old brother to expose himself during the online meetings, prosecutors said.

Mesplou is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 20 at the Long Beach courthouse on four felony counts of a lewd act upon a child and two counts of contact with a minor for a sexual offense, the District Attorney’s Office said.

Records show Mesplou was arrested Wednesday and released on bail the next day.

Prosecutors said Mesplou posed as a girl on an online video chat website and “had his male victim perform sexual acts for him.”

Authorities say the victims’ mother learned what happened and called police. The case was investigated by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a Long Beach-based investigative team made up of investigators from federal and local agencies that battle predators who target children online.

A woman who answered the telephone at Mesplou’s home Friday said he was in the shower and not available for an interview.

Mesplou served as a volunteer religious education teacher at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Catholic Parish in Lomita for more than 10 years, said Monica Valencia, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He taught elementary school-age children on Saturdays and Sundays.

“When we were first notified, parish staff immediately removed him from his position,” Valencia said. “This was a shock and a surprise to all of us.”

The church did a background check on Mesplou, including a fingerprint check, when he began volunteering at the church. He had no criminal record, Valencia said.

Mesplou also underwent Virtus training, which the archdiocese mandates for all adults working with children. The training works to combat child sexual abuse.

The church did a background check on Mesplou, including a fingerprint check, when he began volunteering at the church. He had no criminal record, Valencia said.

Mesplou also underwent Virtus training, which the archdiocese mandates for all adults working with children. The training works to combat child sexual abuse.